Process Quality in Specialized Outpatient Palliative Care An Inventory in Saxony Under a Legal Point of View

摘要

Until now specialized outpatient palliative care is in priority examined from the points of structural and result quality. Process quality is underexposed. This present study took an inventory of this quality dimension. With standardized questionnaires of all recruiting teams in Saxony it could be found out that a lot of their core processes are provided equally. From a legal point of view the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) The legal framework of the specialized outpatient palliative care that has to be filled (§§27 Lew. 37b SGB V) needs to be specified in each individual case. (2) Medical services which have to be done personally cannot be transferred to caregivers. (3) The patient has no legal entitlement to get specialized outpatient palliative care according to uniform core processes. But it is possible to deduce a basic obligation to treat all patients equally from the paragraphs 2 and 5 of the Medical Association's professional code of conduct of Saxony and Article 3 of the German Basic Constitutional Law. (4) All service providers can commit themselves to core processes for a quality assurance by signing a written commitment. (5) For Saxony they should be at least anchored in the SAPV-MV.